By Vincent T. Davis, Staff Writer :
September 16, 2013

Lloyd and Elsie Hill recently celebrated a milestone that most couples never reach: 80 years of marriage.

Family and friends celebrated the Hills' 80th wedding anniversary Aug. 24 at Sarita's Mexican Restaurant with a sheet cake, fresh roses and best wishes. The husband and wife, both 97, sat side by side at the head table, as they had when they were courting in 1932 on Elsie's front porch in Haynes, Ark.

Elsie remembers she thought her husband was “pretty darn good looking” when she first saw him. For his part, Lloyd would ride five miles on a mule through the countryside just to hold her hand.

The couple's health isn't as good as it once was — he has Parkinson's disease and memory loss — but family members say the couple's love remains as strong as oak, the traditional gift for an 80th anniversary.

“They've always had that love for one another,” their daughter-in-law Janie Hill said. “They honored their wedding vows and didn't take it lightly, not like today, where it's not 'til death do us part, but it's 'til I find someone else.”

The Hills' achievement takes place during a time when 45 percent to 50 percent of first marriages end in divorce, according to Americans for Divorce Reform. Some reports indicate celebrating 80 years in marriage happens to less than one in a million couples.

They're not quite the longest-married couple in the world. That title goes to the late Herbert and Zelmyra Fisher, who had been married for 86 years, 9 months and 16 days when Herbert died on Feb. 27, 2011, according to the Guinness World Records. Karam and Katari Chand of Punjab, India, who say they have been married for 87 years, are applying for the record now.

Janie Hill recently persuaded Elsie to write a book about her life. She gave Elsie a tape recorder to record her thoughts, with the idea that Janie Hill would type the recollections later. They plan to call the book, “The Dirt Farmer's Daughter.”

“Don't leave anything out,” the younger Hill said. “It's important for the children to know the hardships you went through and the history of where you came from.”

But Elsie put the recorder aside, preferring to write her and Lloyd's story in a notebook. It's a story that spans the Great Depression, three wars and amazing technological advances.

Their first separation came when Lloyd served in the Navy during World War II. Later, he joined the Air Force and after 22 years of service — 11 of them spent away from his family — he retired as a chief master sergeant.

At the party in August, the couple didn't talk much, just smiled and held hands.

“(Marriage) takes a lot of understanding, lot of love, and a lot of prayers, a few tears and it'll work,” she has said in the past.

Elsie leans on her faith as the couple's lives undergo significant changes. In September 2011, their declining health saw the couple move from their North Side apartment to Adante Senior Living. A year later, the family moved Lloyd to the Regent Care Center after Parkinson's disease affected his ability to walk and dementia caused memory loss.

But he still recognizes family members and always asks about them. The couple have three children, six grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

Janie Hill drives Elsie to visit Lloyd twice a week. When she arrives, she holds his hand as he tries to recall the old days.